K*Lovely's TUF 12 Recap episode 3

On the previous episode we saw GSP use trickery to get the first pick he wanted and we saw “Bruce Leroy” become victorious and advance to the next round. This show opens with Lentz and Caceres back at the house sharing in a post fight drink. Lentz seems to take his loss like a man. Alex on the other hand is doing some bragging and explaining how the kicks to the head hit his afro so he didn’t feel them. This seems to get under the skin of his housemates. I mean really….the kid is only 21 and came to the house with a gimmick. What were you expecting, maturity?


The show moves on to the training, and its Team GSP that is up first. GSP is happy with the win but says that winning is not the only thing he is there for. He says that the guys on his team are already great fighters, but he wants to transform them into martial artist. To help with this transformation he brings in Gia Sissaouri to help with their wrestling. He wanted his team to experience what it was like to train with a world class athlete. The way they showed him tossing the team around, I’m sure it was quite an experience for all of them but also a great lesson.

Now, it’s time for Team Koscheck’s training. Koscheck feels that after the loss, the team needs to regroup and get ready mentally. As he says this they show the team losing momentum. They are complaining about being tired, needing potty breaks, getting their ass kicked in training….blah, blah, blah. Suck it up boys, after 12 seasons you should already know it’s not easy. This attitude sparks a Koscheck speech to the team. The speech works and you see the team kick into high gear for the rest of the training.

Fight pick time! Gsp goes with his number 1 pick- Michael Johnson and the opponent they choose is Aaron Wilkinson. During the stare down Wilkinson continued to touch his nose. I didn’t understand that. Is that a fighter thing? GSP states that Johnson is the best athlete on the team and feels that the fighters’ styles will match up well. Wilkinson, as well as Koscheck, feels the other team is underestimating him. Wilkinson believes he is a better striker and is better on the ground than Johnson.

Now in this episode we see the practical joke played by the coaches. I think Koscheck wins the award for the LAMEST joke in TUF history. The only joy & laughter I got from this joke was hearing GSP cuss in that cute accent of his. Koscheck thought it would be funny to have the team park their cars close enough to GSP’s car on both sides so that he couldn’t get in. Well, plan failed. GSP was able to maneuver his way into his car. Somehow Koscheck thought this trick would get into GSP’s head. WRONG KOSCHECK!!! You better keep training because it’s going to take more than that lame joke to mess with GSP’s game.

How would you like to have enough pull to tell Dana that you’d like to have Mike Tyson come in and talk with your team? Well, GSP has that kind of pull. No need to toot your own horn GSP, I’ll toot it for you…toot toot!! Dana delivers and brings Tyson to the training center. When Tyson walks into Johnson’s dressing room you see everyone’s face light up. GSP talks about how Tyson was his idol growing up & how he used to play Mike Tyson’s Punchout. Johnson is honored to have him there and it motivates him even more to get the win. Unfortunately, Koscheck doesn’t have that kind of pull so Wilkinson only has his team to help motivate him. I did see Jon Fitch sitting in his dressing room though, so that’s a plus.

Michael Johnson vs. Aaron Wilkinson

Round 1

They come out and Johnson shows a couple of fake moves and then hits with a leg kick. He seems to get the control pretty early. They both start to exchange punches & get a few kicks in. Johnson lands a punch that pushes Wilkinson against the fence. Johnson gets a takedown but Wilkinson quickly gets up and the fighters are back in the center of the ring. They continue to have an even amount of punches and kicks. When Johnson goes in for another kick Wilkinson catches his foot and uses that to push Johnson up against the fence but he can’t keep him there. Johnson gets a nice takedown in the center of the ring but Wilkinson is getting up as Johnson is trying to get his back for a choke. Wilkinson scores his own takedown and starts landing some elbows and punches. You can see it on Johnson’s face, that is not a position he’s not comfortable with. Johnson does a pretty good job of protecting himsef but the round ends with Wilkinson on top.

Round 2

They start the round pretty much the same as the previous one. Johnson lands a nice punch to Wilkinson’s face and they are back up against the fence. They both deliver some knees and as Wilkinson moves away from the fence, Johnson lands some good body shots. They briefly clinch and Johnson gets a takedown and goes for a rear naked choke but can’t sink it. Wilkinson escapes but eats some punches doing so. Wilkinson starts to put the pressure on Johnson and he gets another takedown. He lands more elbows but this time around Johnson gets up much quicker. Once again the fighters are back to the stand up and Johnson is goes for another takedown. He gets Wilkinson against the fence and starts kneeing his legs. Wilkinson attempts a takedown but Johnson is able to stop it from happening. They end the round swinging. The judges score it and we are headed into a third round.

Round 3

In this round Johnson comes out with fire and is striking and Wilkinson goes down. Johnson is all over him as he drops and starts to nail him with the ground and pound. As Wilkinson struggles to escape he gives up his back and Johnson hooks in a rear naked choke for the win. Team GSP remains in control.

Koscheck felt that Wilkinson had controlled the fight and had won both rounds but the judges didn’t see it that way. It’s always heartbreaking to see the fighters come to tears after a tough loss. Koscheck gave Wilkinson a lot of credit for fighting his heart out when no one had given him a chance to win. I think his words were great comfort after a hard fight. There is always the wild card spot, so never count yourself out.

Well that wraps up another good episode of TUF. Next week looks to be just as good, as we see clips of “Bruce Leroy” pushing Sevak to the edge and of course we see another fight. Will GSP stay in control or will Team Koscheck come out with their first win?

Don’t forget tonight is the WEC Aldo vs. Gamburyan fight on Versus. There is so many great fights on this card and I’m excited.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, predictions, etc. You can always find us on Twitter (@woMMAn) with weigh in & fight updates. Check out http://wommanthoughts.blogspot.com on Mondays for the weekly Rampage thought and of course go back there or http://fisttacuff.com every Wednesday for a new TUF 12 recap. Keep it real people and see ya next week!



K*Lovely

K*Lovely's TUF 12 Recap episode 2

We are in the second week and this episode was filled with strategy, drinking, smoking, and of the course team picks. The show starts with the boys heading out to check out the new house they’ll call home for the next couple of weeks. The boys are impressed with the place and quickly race up to grab the best beds in the house. Stevens and McKenzie have no interest in that, they are distracted by the bar and decide that is the place to be. After the beds are picked naturally the next thing to do is to have a few shots, test out the pool and swap stories. They start off showing Lentz as the guy who will handle the liquor as well as the cigarettes. Apparently drinking and smoking is all part of his trickery because he says his cardio is on point. Now after this episode, I am even more convinced that I need to hang with Alex “Bruce Leroy”. He shared his stories about killing an alligator with his bare hands, wrestling a deer, and not to mention he killed it on a harmonica. He just oozes cool.


Now it’s time to get to a little business and the coaches pick their teams. They show Koscheck in the dressing room going over his picks and Michael Johnson is at the top followed by Marc Stevens. Koscheck likes Stevens because he’s cocky. Two peas in a pod right there. Now in GSP’s locker room Greg Jackson is offering him some advice. He tells GSP that if he should go with picking the first fighter, and like Koscheck he is eyeing Johnson as his first pick. Now not only is GSP super fine, he also has a brain and comes up with a good strategy to get Koscheck to waste a pick if he wins the toss and goes for 1st pick. GSP comes up with a fake list and puts Stevens on the top in big letters. At the gym GSP pretty much does everything he can to flash his list for Koscheck to see. Even Dana tells GSP that he’s flashing the list and the other team can see it. GSP tells him “It’s a strategy.” Koscheck wins the toss and opts to pick the first fighter. Silence falls for a second and Koscheck takes Marc Stevens as his first pick. DUMBASS! GSP played him like a trick pony and GSP gets Johnson, the 1st pick he wanted and he get to pick the fight. Dana gives it up to GSP and says “Well played.” Yes Dana well played indeed and just like their upcoming fight, Koscheck came up short and looked silly.

TEAM GSP: Michael Johnson, Jonathan “billy goat” Bookins (my nickname for him), Spencer Paige, Alex Caceres, Karl Watson, Cody McKenzie, Dane Sayers

TEAM KOSCHECK: Marc Stevens, Sevak Magakian, Sako Chivitchian, Andrew Main, Nam Phan, Aaron Wilkinson, Jeff Lentz

Let the training begin. First team they start off in training is GSP. He gives an awesome impression of the Sgt. Hartman speech from Full Metal Jacket. I think this is the first time we get to see just how much of a sense of humor GSP has. He explains that he believes his duties would best fit the team as a training partner and he’ll let Greg Jackson and John Danaher do the coaching. He is happy with his team and is looking forward to helping them learn new skills and improve the skills they have already.

Now Koscheck has a little different approach on his coaching tactics. Koscheck brought in Bob Cook, Daniel Cormier, and Teddy Lucio as his assistant coaches. He wants to push the guys into mindless training. His motivation for them is to win. He makes it very clear that he does not want to GSP at all, even though he has already been out smarted by him.

It’s time for GSP to pick the first fight. The first fight he picks is a doozy! He picks Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres vs. Jeff Lentz. GSP said that Alex had asked for this fight and since he seemed determined he wanted to give it to him. Koscheck is happy with this choice as well. He thinks this a good match up and that Lentz will win. You kind of get the feel that Koscheck is not giving Alex a chance in this fight. We get the normal “get to know the fighters” stuff. Alex explains that he is influenced by Bruce Lee and when he was 14 he was fortunate enough to find a gym that would let him train for free and that changed his life. He also got himself into wrestling. Lentz talks about his New Jersey pride and being that he is a Kurt Pellegrino look-a-like, it’s no surprise to me that’s who he trains with back home. Alex is doing a little sparring in the backyard with Sayers and as he puffs away on a cigarette, Lentz explains that he is not impressed. Alex dresses in a formal Chinese gi and rocks a Jedi braid that McKenzie thinks should go. Lentz changes his hair from red to blonde and the boys prepare to head out to battle

ALEX CACERES vs. JEFF LENTZ

Round 1

Alex comes out with some kicks to try and keep the distance from Lentz which works for a little while. Lentz starts in with kicks of his own and is able to push Alex up against the cage. They are both fighting for a good position against the cage and exchange a couple of knees. After a little more scrambling Alex gets on Lentz’s back and goes for a guillotine. Lentz is able to escape and the two end up on the mat here Alex goes the guillotine again. Lentz slips out of it and uses this to get Alex back up against the cage. The ref breaks them up and both fighters are back in the center. Alex continues with the kicks and Lentz decides to do the same. They continue with the kicks and throw in punches. Both of them land good shots but nothing damaging enough to finish the fight. In the final seconds of the fight Lentz gets in a sweet judo throw to end the round in a high note.

Round 2

Alex comes out again with his kicks and Lentz starts to time them and catches one and uses this to push Alex back against the cage. They scramble around for a bit and end up back on the mat but Lentz ends up on top in half guard. Alex is able to get into full guard and stop Lentz from hurting him and before you know it Alex is able to slip his legs in for a triangle. He hooks it in and Lentz lifts up and tries to slam Alex down and punch his way out of the choke but it doesn’t work. Instead of going to sleep, Lentz taps and “Bruce Leroy” prevails and moves onto the next round!!

GSP was all smiles after the fight and said he was happy to see Alex on the bottom instead of up against the cage. He knew Alex had a good triangle and could use that to win. Koscheck is disappointed and said that he saw the triangle coming. Now how can you not like Alex? Even Dana likes this kid and was happy to see him win.

Overall I thought it was a good episode and a good fight. I’m looking forward to next week’s episode. Let’s see if Team GSP can stay in control of the fights. Don’t forget folks that UFC 119 is on Saturday with a list of great fights. Make sure to check out http://wommanthoughts.blogspot.com for the TUF recaps as well as the weekly Rampage thought.

K*Lovely

T-Dubb's TUF 12 Episode 2 Recap

I love, love, love GSP. He had me applauding and laughing at the start of this episode. Koscheck, such a chump.  Thought you were slick didn’t you.  The fake list was classic.  That’s something K*Lovely and I would do in a competition.  M&Ms hoochie!! I thought no way Koscheck would fall for such a simple trick.  But hey, he’s not paid to be smart. Now, I have to double check last week’s episode, but I thought Koscheck didn’t remember Marc Stevens, and now they’re admitting to coaching him before.  Things that make you go hmmm.

So everyone knows that the 2 teams will experience very different coaching strategies.  Koscheck calls his coaching style “mindless,” where they roll around and he jumps in to show them something.  Is there going to be some strategy or control lessons in the sessions?  Aren’t the fights 50% physical and 50% mental?  Also, I thought that there was going to be 1 or 2 acting lessons mixed in with the training sessions.  Not much to say about GSP’s team, except that they’re lucky SOBs.  I want to roll around with GSP in those tight shorts.  Besides that, these guys will have an opportunity to learn from some of the best coaches and Mr. GSPrefect.  They’ll get to experience what GSP does on a daily basis, how technical his training is, and his thought process on how to dominate an opponent of any caliber.

So, Koscheck said that if you sit down and have a conversation with him, you’ll fall in love with him.  Ok, hell naw, I will not fall in love with Koscheck.  I wouldn’t be able to get past the fakeness and the hair.  You’re labeled based off your actions and what you portray to the public.  What I’ve seen is cockiness and a fake ass.

Alex Caceres v Jeffrey Lentz

This was an excellent match up and first fight.  I thought it was fitting that these 2 were matched up image wise, good guy vs bad guy, similar to their coaches.  Lentz convincingly dominated the 1st round by keeping Caceres up against the fence, utilizing leg kicks, and has an impressive throw at the last few seconds of the round.  Caceres had several guillotine attempts but nothing came of them. 2nd round started out much the same as the 1st.  Lentz had Caceres up against the fence, and Caceres attempted another guillotine.  They wind up on the ground, with Lentz on top.  There were a few elbows by Lentz, but Caceres was able to get Lentz in a triangle choke for the tap out, and wins with 2:30 left in the 2nd.

Can’t take anything away from Lentz, he could have won this fight if he didn’t get caught up in the chokes.  Both fighters have the potential to have a good career ahead of them if they continue to improve.

That’s all I have for you.  Don’t forget to tweet us your thoughts (@woMMAn).  We’d love to hear what you think of the season so far.

Bye for now,

T-Dubb

K*Lovely's Weekly Rampage Thought wk 8

All right people, book the flight, book the hotel because it is happening! Tickets for Rampage's next fight have gone on sale. The fight will be in Detroit at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Novemeber 20th. I can't even express how excited I am.  Even though Rampage is going into this fight as the underdog, I'm staying on the positive side. The one fact that anyone can't deny is that this will be a great fight. Machida is anxious to get a winning streak going again and everybody knows that Rampage is salty from losing his last fight and wants redemption. Rampage has stated that he started his training camp early and stayed in shape from his last fight. He also said that "Every single minute of this camp will be focused on technique, not getting back in shape or shaking the ring rust after a long time off." I personally can't wait to the trash talk tweets to begin. He has thrown in a few here and there, but I'm sure as the fight gets closer he will have more to say. Now, just don't get to distracted by the trash talk Rampage. I know when this fight comes you'll be ready to go to war and you'll send this girl back to San Diego very happy. No pressure Rampage but it will be my birthday weekend, so that should give you that little extra motivation.

This card is impressive, so if your not on the Rampage train like me, there is plenty of other great fights to be pumped about. There is the 3rd fight between Hughes and Penn, Munoz vs Aaron Simpson and the return of Karo Parisyan. Other fighters rumored to be on the card are Lauzon, Sotiropoulos, Matt Brown, Phil Davis and Tyson Griffin.

Well that's it for me people. Don't forget that today kicks off fight week. We have a new episode on Wednesday of The Ultimate Fighter and on Saturday we have UFC 119. Got to love it!! I'll be back next week with another Rampage thought and don't forget to check out my TUF recap after the show. Until then....adieu.

K*Lovely

K*Lovely's TUF 12 Recap episode 1

Finally the time has come and a brand new season of The Ultimate Fighter is upon us. I couldn’t be happier that we get a full season of GSP as a coach; unfortunately that means a full season of watching Koscheck as well. Like they say, you have to take the good with the bad. As usual the hopefuls enter the gym and meet Dana as well as their new coaches. Dana gives his “give it everything you got” speech and also announces that the wild card is back in motion. Last season McCray made it to the finals with his wild card spot so this news should be encouraging.


You can’t help but to love the fact the show kicks off with the boys having to fight their way into the house. It gets straight down to business and the shenanigans come later. The first fight is Marc Stevens vs T.J. O’Brien. In his pre interview Stevens says that he has worked with Koscheck before, but when Dana asks Koscheck, he says he’s never seen him fight. Stevens ends up taking the quickest knock out award with this fight. He lands a right hand that drops O’Brien and Stevens just continues the punishment until the ref jumps in. Stevens jumps on the cage and yells to Koscheck “Remember me now?” On to the next fight which is Spencer Paige vs. Steve Magdaleno. Now I think Paige deserves an award as well. He is the first fighter I’ve seen walkout to the cage in jeans. Yes, I notice everything. This fight goes the distance but Paige wins by decision due to his good ground and pound game.

Third fight is Nam Phan vs. Mike Budnik. Budnik comes out and delivers a few leg kicks, gets Phan against the cage and then takes him down. They scramble a bit on the ground and Phan goes for some submissions as well as delivering some punches, but Budnik lets him back up. Phan puts the pressure on a little bit and starts throwing some punches and Budnik goes for the takedowns. They go back and forth for a bit, then Phan lands a liver shot and that drops Budnik. Phan starts to unload on Budnik as he’s down and Budnik can’t recover. Phan makes his way into the house with a TKO victory.

After that fight they move on and just show the highlights of some of the remaining fights. Next up were Andy Main and Jason Brenton. From the highlights these two had their fair share of punches, kicks and submission attempts. In the end Main gets into the house with a triangle choke victory over Brenton.

Next fight was Ron Weathers and Jonathan Brookins. Brookins goes into this fight looking to punish and finish his opponent. This fight goes to decision and Brookins takes the win. In his interview Brookins felt he should have done more in the fight but is anxious for his next fight.

Up next we had Toby Grear and Sako Chivitchian. Now the Ultimate Fighter just wouldn’t be the same if there wasn’t any puking. Thanks to Sako we get plenty of it. Sako gets the decision and is the house. Jeff Lentz and Daniel Head were up next and GSP crossed Lentz off his list right away. Maybe it was the hair, but he told Dana he didn’t think Lentz would make it. As perfect as I find GSP, in this case he was wrong. Lentz delivered a good ole fashioned ass whooping on Head then sunk in a rear nake choke for the victory. After the victory Koscheck lets Lentz know that GSP had crossed him out before the fight started and Lentz said “never count me out.” For the record GSP did man up and admit that he was wrong about Lentz and made the mistake of crossing him out early.

Now ever since I saw the previews for this season I have been excited to see "Bruce Leroy" Alex Caceras. When Alex came out he was sporting the yellow Bruce Lee suit and Koscheck said he came out looking like a banana. Excuse me Koscheck, what the hell do you think you look like sitting there with your horrid blonde hair and your yellow jersey? That’s the pot calling the kettle black right there. During the entire fight "Bruce Leroy" had a smile on his face and made his way into the house with rear naked choke. He is so excited he runs out of the cage, but Dana reminds him to step back in and get his hand raised for the victory.

Next we have Pablo Garza and Michael Johnson. This fight goes to decision and Johnson takes the victory. Aaron Wilkinson is the next to make it into the house with his decision victory over Mike Richman. Wilkinson is from the UK and Koscheck seemed to be impressed by his ground work.

After showing a UK fighter, naturally it’s time to see an Irishman. Joseph Duffy however is not as lucky and losses to Kyle Watson by rear naked choke. Watson is the first to state he can’t wait to start some shenanigans. At least he’s honest, right? Next fighter to make it in is Sevak Magakian with a decision victory over J.J Ambrose.

The last 2 fights left are shown in their entirety. First up are Cody McKenzie and Amir Khillah. Mckenzie is an Alaskan fisherman with a trick up his sleeve. Before the fight begins GSP tell Dana that he predicts McKenzie will win by guillotine. GSP has heard his name before and knows that this is what he’s known for. Well, McKenzie delivered. Khillah was able to avoid the first attempt but couldn’t escape the second. McKenzie told the ref that he was asleep and McKenzie advances.

Last fight of the night is between Dane Sayers and Ariel Sexton. Sayers makes it a point to let his opponent know that he does not want to touch gloves at the beginning of the round. He comes out darting from his corner with a jumping knee but misses. Sayers then goes for a guillotine but can’t sink it in tight enough. Sexton gets some punches in but Sayers is able to get him down briefly and even get Sexton’s back, but just isn’t able to lock anything in. Sayers slams Sexton to the ground but he is able to get back up quickly and starts landing some good punches and even gets in a good knee. Toward the end of the round Sayers starts to look gassed and the accidental low blow by Sexton didn’t help. Dana predicts that Sayers will lose in the second round. Second round starts and Sexton is a little more aggressive. He comes out and lands punch after punch that pushes Sayers up against the cage. They exchange some knees and Sayers attempts a guillotine that looked good but Sexton was able to escape. They get back to their feet but Sexton gives up his back and this time Sayers is able to sink in a standing guillotine and he is the last fighter to make it in the house.

I am looking forward to what I hope is an exciting season of TUF. Of course you won’t hear me complain knowing that I have a date with GSP every Wednesday night. I’ll be back next week with another recap and don’t forget to check out my Weekly Rampage thought on Monday. Peace out!!!

K*Lovely

T-Dubb’s TUF 12 Is Here!!!!

It’s about time!! 12th season of TUF is starting Sept 15th on Spike, and your favorite woMMAn are ramping up to feast our eyes on the fresh crop of men that will be presented. Now ladies, I know most of you will agree that the best part of this season will be seeing Mr. GSPerfect ever Wednesday night, but beware, he is mine. Well not yet, but soon. It’s destiny.

Who we’re not looking forward to is the other coach. Yes I know his name, but I’m still in denial that he’s a coach this season, and against my boo of all people. He’s not worthy of this chance. If he was going against Matt Serra, I’d say have at it and hope they knock each other out. I foresee Acting 101 and Antics Boot Camp, being the top training classes for his team and not much else.

This seasons cast seems to be a bit more clean cut than the last bunch. I haven’t found my new Noki yet, but I’m sure by week 2 someone will stand out. Below is a link from the TUF site, so you can check out some of the fighters yourself. Ladies, twitter us your thoughts on who’s the hottest this season and who you think will win, both fighter and coach. Fellas, you can just let us know who you think will win for both. No need to weighin on looks cuz we don’t care.

http://www.ultimatefighter.com/videos/tuf-12-cast-revealed

We’re excited for this season, and hope you are too. Check back each week for a new blog posting, where we will discuss, as always, who’s hot, who’s impressive in the octagon, and who turned out to be a puss boy and needs to go home to his mama. If you want to chat, check us out on Twitter (@woMMAn). If you’re lucky enough, we might reply.

Don’t miss me too much. I’ll be back.

T-Dubb

K*Lovely's Weekly Rampage Thought wk 6

Yes folks, it’s Monday and it is that time for another weekly Rampage thought. I am in week 6 of this and have 10 more weeks until my favorite fighter steps back into the cage. Now I have been patiently waiting for the announcement of where this fight will be taking place. Finally the answer came in and this fight will happen in Detroit on November 20th. Besides the excitement of this fight I couldn’t be happier that the weigh ins will take place on my birthday! Yup, happy birthday to me. Ok, back on track. From what I’ve read, it seems as if people are not giving Rampage much of a chance against Machida. Now I am a fan of Machida’s just as much as anyone else but he is not super human. Shogun proved that it is possible to beat him and even exposed some weaknesses. Rampage can defiantly capitalize on these, plus we all know that Rampage has great knockout power. Both of these guys are coming off big losses and have a big point to prove with this fight. I don’t see why it’s such a big reach to think that Rampage actually has a chance. I can be the first to admit that Rampage didn’t look his best when he fought Rashad, I mean I was there to witness and it was heartbreaking. However, he is not going into this fight with the same distractions, such as filming a movie. He can solely concentrate on his training. In his recent tweets he has said that he has begun his training in Huntington Beach at the new Ultimate Gym. This excites me! Not only is he training close to me, but he is getting down to business. Work on everything you can Rampage. Prove all the haters wrong and show that there is never a reason to question your heart. Besides, a victory on your part would be the ultimate birthday present.


Well this week I kept it short and sweet. See you next week with another thought. I always have something to say.



K*lovely